A MIDLIFE CRISIS or does life begin at 40?

Do law firms have a mid life crisis? It feels like they should. Partners come, Partners retire, we trudge uphill through a blizzard (or pandemic) and we simply love hearing about market instability and inflation on a daily basis. Is it time for a meltdown?

40 years after first opening its doors in Welwyn Garden City, Partners Tom, Jolyon and Mounia simply look at each other and burst out laughing. This is the stuff lawyers live for. We veer from one crisis to another. The key point is that we survive and thrive.

The founding fathers, Michael Steel and Michael Briscoe had their own fair share of storms to weather. Former Partners Michael Bottomley and Mark Fowler also joined in the fun. Recessions, SRA reforms, acquisitions, and other such trials only served to create a stronger and more experienced firm.

So, at a time when we continue to get slapped in the face with challenges such as spiraling costs and a nervous property market, why are we looking forward to celebrating 40 years of Ewart Price Solicitors? We’re getting excited because we are growing older and maturing like a fine wine. Age and experience agrees with us. We’ve seen that we can get through the ups and downs and come out stronger. Experience is everything in the legal world and you have added value with a few cuts, scrapes and a wisp of grey hair.

We’re not new kids on the block, but we’re still learning. We never stop listening to our clients and learning. Mounia, Tom and Jolyon are the next generation of Partners so why dwell on the past 40 years? We look back at what gave this firm its foundation and identity. We look forward to the future with enthusiasm and confidence.

Ewart Price opened its doors for business in Welwyn Garden City on 31st October 1983, one spooky Halloween. Whether Michael Briscoe and Michael Steel considered Halloween to be an omen or not, they pressed ahead. Ewart Price & Primhak Solicitors was already an established and respected firm in Hamstead. Welwyn Garden City folk had never heard of them. The Partners had barely heard of Welwyn Garden City. One was from Lancashire but had been living in Kingston Upon Thames, the other was from Edgware. It was like a Tinder blind date with no guarantees. Would the good people of Welwyn Garden City swipe left or swipe right?

The odds were somewhat stacked against them with little or no local knowledge. It does make one wonder what went through their minds on that very first day of opening? Tea with one sugar or perhaps something a hell of a lot stronger? It was British entrepreneurism at its finest. All chips in, no looking back.

Then something amazing happened. The good townsfolk did begin to trust us. They began to trust us with their property transfers, their wills, their family problems. Then these clients began to talk to their friends and relatives from other local towns, and they began to call on us too. It was the start of an incredible journey.

When a client instructs a firm of Solicitors –it is very much a choice. We realise that out of all the firms in the country, the client chose to trust us with their important transaction or delicate legal issue. It’s not the same as going to a shop and purchasing a pair of shoes. We, as Solicitors handle things that are really important to people. Buying a first home or handling a probate because a client’s Mum passed away are major life changing circumstances.

Looking to the future, we remember this fundamental point. These are not just forms to complete or money to transfer. These are real people who trust us with something that they truly value. That’s what we’ve been doing for 40 years and that is what we want to continue doing for at least another 40 years.